Naruto Seal Master
by Bryson7
Summary: What if Naruto had help with his training early on? How would his story change? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone it's time for a new story. This story has a lot of twists and turns planned so be prepared. As with any of my stories favorites, follows and reviews are greatly appreciated and the amount I get determines the speed of the updates.**

**AN: I will be a little technical at times so that you understand how I have constructed the Narutoverses underlining architecture. I will not explain them over and over so don't worry. Fuinjutsu is integral to this story so it will be given particular attention.**

**AN2: NOT a GODLIKE Naruto story. **

**Disclaimer: While I do not own Naruto I do own my own ideas. But I would rather own Naruto.**

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><p>Naruto Age 8<p>

Naruto had just entered the Hokage office to see if his Jiji would be willing to play with him.

"Hey Jiji, you have time to play a game with me!?" Naruto had a smile so large on his face it caused his eyes to appear closed. This was Naruto's fox smile, patent pending.

"Naruto? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the Academy?" Naruto wanted to be a shinobi more than anything. That Naruto would skip shinobi training did not add up. He did not earn the tittles Hokage and The Professor for being unobservant.

Naruto didn't see the harm in it so he told Jiji how the instructors were sabotaging his training. Not that Naruto realized that was what was happening.

Sarutobi listened quietly with a smile on his face while on the inside he was seething. Kicked out of classes, questions ignored and improper material being taught to Naruto on PURPOSE! Sarutobi was far too smart to make this a Naruto issue so he came up with a plan.

Time Skip Two Weeks

Naruto didn't know what had changed but classes seemed easier than before. The Taijutsu he was taught made more sense than before, classes were easier when books were found for him like the other students and even his questions were answered even if the teachers still treated him like an idiot for asking. Naruto didn't know what was going on and his eight year old mind didn't care. Now if only he could make some friends.

At that moment a purple haired student in the class ahead of him sneezed.

Flashback Two Weeks

Sarutobi had called an assembly of all Academy instructors to his office. They were all lined up in front of him with wobbling knees.

Why were there knees wobbling? Well that was because the third Hokage was flooding the room with killing intent.

"It has come to my attention that you have been shirking your duties. I can not allow this to stand as the academy students are the future shinobi of the village and therefore its future strength." Sarutobi said in a quiet voice filled with steel and authority.

One of the chunin opened his mouth to defend himself until Sarutobi fixed him with a glare.

"This is not a discussion. I am the Hokage and you are _my_ shinobi. So I talk, and you listen and do. I am going to have my Anbu look in on your classes to see if you are shirking your duties and hindering your students growth. You won't know when they will watch and you won't know even when they are there. If they report that you are hindering the growth of _any_ future shinobi I will have the Torture and Interrogation division check if you are rebels or spies for undermining the orders of your Hokage."

The chunin were frozen in place under the combined weight of the Hokage's threat and the not so subtle killing intent.

"Well what are you waiting for? You are dismissed." The chunin flashed out so fast Sarutobi thought for a second that they were jonin. Sarutobi smirked as he pulled out his pipe and smoked in peace.

Time Skip Naruto Age 10

Sarutobi was looking over the student progress sheet for one Naruto Uzumaki and was pleasantly surprised. Naruto was rated as the dead last in his class but that was unimportant. Naruto would have been in the top five of his class if not number one in Taijutsu if he were allowed to spar against anyone else other than the worst in his class. Sarutobi was not looking at his surrogate grandsons file for nothing. It actually had to do with the shinobi reading the file over his shoulder.

He was an older shinobi about six-three with waist length white hair, red tear streaks down his face, a green outfit with a red jacket, wooden sandals and a horned forehead protector with the symbol of oil on it. This was Jiraiya of the Sannin and his former student. But in this case, Jiraiya's role as Naruto's godfather was the issue.

"I promised his mother that I would teach her son fuinjutsu if anything happened to them. I am his godfather and I will do at least this for him. I could not take him with me when he was a baby due to the fact that if he was with me people may have deduced who his father was and that he was a jinchuuriki. You convinced me he would do better with some roots in the village that he saved but you were wrong. I have read his medical file on the abuse and mistreatment he has received. We _owe_ him at least his heritage."

Sarutobi sighed. He knew that this was coming. Naruto was at the age that the Uzumaki began fuinjutsu training. It took years to learn and master fuinjutsu. Jiraiya wanted to make Naruto a master so Naruto had to learn everything. Even something as simple as to the exact composition of fuinjutsu ink and why it was composed that way. Naruto would spend his first six months to a year on calligraphy learning both precision and speed before the word fuinjutsu was used. It could take Naruto a year to eighteen months before he made his first basic sealing scroll. But by the time Naruto graduated the academy at thirteen Naruto would be able to produce and decipher seals that most of his shinobi had never heard of.

Sarutobi knew that people who had the potential to be fuinjutsu masters were one in a thousand. Jiraiya said that the tests he slipped Naruto showed he had the out of box thinking to rise to the master level.

Fuinjutsu users had levels to tell their and others skill and everyone used the Uzushiogakure scale to measure themselves.

The first level was novice and this level applied to most of the shinobi forces. It ranged from no knowledge to barely any.

Then there were beginner, intermediate, advanced and finally master. All these levels had a number scale within them from one to nine. For example you could be an advanced level eight or a beginner level nine. Even master had a scale from one to ten.

There were no living level ten masters in the world according to Jiraiya. Even Minato was nowhere near being a level _ten _master. To gain _that_ level you had to create a whole new facet of fuinjustu like inventing summoning or even inventing fuinjutsu itself. According to Jiraiya there have only been five recorded level ten masters in history and four of them were Uzumaki's.

"Are you sure he has the talent for it? Very few people have the innate skill required, and fuinjutsu requires a whole slew of sub skills like code generation and breaking, advanced formulas and concepts, a simultaneous abstract and exact understanding of the world and how forces interact just to name a few." It wasn't that Sarutobi didn't believe in Naruto, it was just that there was a reason that most of the notable fuinjutsu users were geniuses like Minato. Most people could never rise above the beginner level even given their whole lives if they tried. He was called The Professor and he had only risen to the middle intermediate level even after all these years.

"Of course I am sure. I can see something in him that even Minato didn't have beyond simple genius. I don't know if it's some genetic Uzumaki trait, but he could one day surpass his father. Just being a genus is not enough to master fuinjutsu. Sensei, you are considered a genius and you will never rise to the advanced much less master level."

Sarutobi was convinced. Even if he wasn't, he could see Jiraiya would not yield in this even if given a direct order. But one question remained. "You obviously can't teach him in person due to the necessity of secrecy, and even if you could your duties as Konoha's spy master will keep you away for months at a time. So how will he train?" Sarutobi knew Jiraiya had a solution but did not know what that solution was.

"It actually is pretty easy. First I put fuinjutsu on Naruto's place protecting it from intrusion, destruction and spying so he can learn in peace without fear of being discovered. If the council says anything just say it's a precaution against the kyuubi, they'll eat that up. Next he will do calligraphy for probably six months. I have special scrolls that require him to solve puzzles and write the answers in neat calligraphy quickly or the ink will disappear and he will have start over. It's a perfect way to start his quick and precise writing technique while teaching him the mental exercises he will need later on in one fell swoop. The next six months will be basics like creating your own ink from scratch and the best types of paper and surfaces. At this point I will have been back in the village two or three times and can review his progress and leave him the actual fuinjutsu. I will leave some scrolls that will test his knowledge on each level. The scrolls auto grade on perfect or fail so when he turns in a completed scroll give him the next lesson and the next 'homework' scroll. I will be back periodically to review his work and give you enough new scrolls to last you until my next visit. This is a slow way but he doesn't actually _need _one on one instruction until the advanced level and that won't be for at least five years if he as good as I think he could be. I believe Naruto has the skill to get that far without me looking over his shoulder directly. By that point he will be fifteen or so and therefore be a shinobi for about two years. By that time I should have taken him on as my official apprentice and can then and finish his education directly. Thank god for Uzumaki self correcting training seals."

Sarutobi thought it was a well thought out plan. Naruto could be sworn to keep his skills quiet under some promise or by saying its cooler that way until he became an official shinobi and received his headband. It would save him the headache of listening to the council and as a genin all Naruto's skills and techniques would be his. There was only one problem… "How are we going to convince Naruto to take up fuinjutsu?"

Jiraiya responded by taking out a big red book with a blue spiral with silver outlining. "Simple. We tell Naruto about his clan and give him his clan book. He should become aware of the history and ways of his people." As he gestured to the book.

"True, the knowledge would give Naruto all the motivation he would need, but is it wise?"

"Wise or not it should be done. The ways of the Uzumaki are the ways of the fuinjutsuist. Besides he has the right to know. I am not saying tell him who his parents are, just that he is a real Uzumaki. I mean you already gave him his clan name, just give him the knowledge that goes with it."

Sarutobi knew when he was beat. "Fine I will call him in and tell him. But he can not know who is teaching him yet."

"I signed my notes to him in a code he will recognize when we finally meet. I will hide where your Anbu usually do." With that Jiraiya disappeared into the shadows to wait.

XXX

Naruto was on his way to see the Hokage. He didn't know why he wanted to see him. Oh wait, he got it! Jiji had heard how awesome he was and was going to give him his hat. That had to be it! Naruto knew that wasn't true, but in a village where almost everyone seemed to hate his very existence he had to provide his own self assurances.

Naruto had very few people that actually cared about him. The people at Ichikaru's, Jiji and Yugao in the class ahead of him.

He had defended Yugao's dream to become Konoha's premiere swordswoman in front of her class and they became instant friends. It also didn't hurt their friendship that anyone who made fun of Yugao's dream in front of him got put on his pranking list. Yugao was very cold in public unless discussing swords or was with Naruto. Her family hated him until they realized that Naruto was the only one she trusted enough to let her guard down around. After that they liked him except her mother would giggle when they were together and her father would watch him around Yugao like he was going to do something if they were alone. It was both scary and weird.

For some reason his instincts screamed that it was the giggling that he should be afraid of even though her father had a sword.

As Naruto walked into the Hokage's office he could tell that something was off. He had no idea what it was, but something did not add up.

The Hokage sat behind his desk that was missing all his hated paperwork for this occasion. He almost would rather be doing paperwork than this. _Almost._ All that was on his desk were a couple of scrolls and a big red book.

As the door closed behind Naruto the door sealed itself with a light blue glow preventing intruders and eavesdroppers. Not that Naruto knew that.

"Naruto, I have something to tell you." Sarutobi said in a serious voice.

"What?" Jiji was acting strange and it was making him nervous.

"Have you heard of the Uzumaki?"

"Well duh, I am Naruto _Uzumaki_."

Sarutobi just sighed at the very Naruto like response.

"Now Naruto, I need you to promise me will be quiet and listen while I explain something very important to you." The Hokage fixed him with a no nonsense stare.

"A-alright Jiji, I promise."

The Hokage then smiled warmly. "I guess I should start at the beginning. Your parents both died in the Kyuubi attack ten years ago."

Naruto nodded his head. He had been told that before.

"But what you do not know is that your mother was from a now extinct clan called the Uzumaki clan." Sarutobi saw Naruto's mouth open to speak and cut him off before he could start. "I cannot tell you who she is. Your parents had enemies. When you become jonin I will tell you and you will understand why I kept it a secret. But that is not what I am here to tell you. I wanted to tell you that your clan was famous for something, that something was fuinjutsu." Sarutobi paused for dramatic effect.

"Now I have some things for you. First off someone who will not be named at this time promised your mother that they would ensure you learned of your heritage and that includes fuinjutsu. So if you decide to you can learn of your heritage but you must tell no one. Techniques known to non ninja who are not in clans are not protected. So until you become a genin you must tell no one that you know fuinjutsu or are a real Uzumaki."

Now Naruto wasn't as dumb as people took him for. Sure he wasn't a genius like that Shikamaru kid in his class or a prodigy like Sasuke, but he wasn't dumb. He remembered Ikura saying something the same thing in class once. All clan techniques and ninja moves were the property of that ninja or clan. But academy students weren't ninja yet. The only reason he knew that so well was because Ikura was talking about jutsu at the time.

Besides for an orphan like Naruto, a chance to learn about his clan and their techniques was something any orphan ninja in training would pounce on.

Naruto's face broke into his foxy grin 'patent pending' and said "Ok Jiji!" Like he was going to turn down free jutsu.

The Hokage explained to Naruto how he would be trained (AN: Not going to explain again just look at Jiraiya's explanation above.)

Time Skip 3½ years (AKA: Naruto Age 13)

This was it, exam day, time for all of Naruto's hard work to pay off.

"Shit!" if he weren't running late that is.

Naruto had been up late working on his fuinjutsu and had over slept. Naruto had found that fuinjutsu just made sense to him and all subjects made more sense when related to fuinjutsu. Naruto was something of a prodigy when it came to fuinjutsu. How else could anyone explain self and scroll instruction getting Naruto to level six intermediate in only three and half years. Heck his Shishou had informed him that it should have taken a prodigy at least four to five years to reach the same level he was at with personal instruction.

Naruto was running across the rooftops as fast as he could trying to make it to the exam in time. The Hokage had changed the exam four years ago. There was a written, combat and ninjutsu portions now.

Naruto slid into the classroom "Ssssaaaaffffee!"

Naruto was then hit on the head by Iruka. "Ow Iruka-sensei that hurts!" Naruto rubbed his painful head.

Iruka just sighed. "Just, get to your seat Naruto. We are about to start the written portion of the test." Just one more day Iruka kept telling himself.

Naruto went to an empty seat when Iruka called out "Naruto, we have assigned seating for this test. You might have known that if you had shown up on time. Your seat is over there." Iruka was pointing to an empty seat that already had a facedown test on it.

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. Apparently he had even missed the tests being passed out.

When Iruka let them turn the test over and start Naruto turned white. The final exam was _all_ history!? Naruto was no longer the bottom of the class due to the necessity of learning other subjects required for fuinjutsu and Yugao-chan threatening him if he didn't get his grades up from his former dead last position.

But Naruto _sucked _at history. Mostly because he didn't care about what one dead guy said to another dead guy before he was born. He cared about Uzushiogakure history because of his clan but that was about it.

Oh well, maybe he could guess and pass somehow.

XXX

Naruto was nervous. You had to pass two of the three tests in order to graduate. He was outside waiting for them to call him up for the taijutsu test. Naruto knew he would pass this one. While the academy style had never seemed to quite fit him, Naruto had always knack for hand to hand combat.

Naruto stood a solid five foot one in his orange jumpsuit. Naruto may hate eating vegetables instead of ramen; actually Naruto hated eating anything instead of ramen but Yugao's mom was right that eating better had made him grow taller.

Too bad he promised Yugao that he would get rid of the orange jumpsuit once he got out of the academy. She had bribed him with a week of free ramen. Oh well, the jump suit wasn't what he needed when he could start using his fuinjutsu anyway. He already had his top on order since it had to be custom made.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Sakura Haruno!"

Naruto and Sakura went to the ring when their names were called.

"Ok the rules are simple; nothing but taijutsu, stay in the ring and winner automatically passes while loser is based on merit. Ready? Begin!" the chunin explained.

Sakura rushed in and tried to deliver a textbook strait which Naruto deflected with his forearm getting in her guard and delivered a counter strait to her face.

Sakura flew back and tried to get up but before she got higher than her knees Naruto delivered a front kick to the side of her face. She was out before she hit the ground.

The chunin growled "Winner…Naruto Uzumaki!"

Man that was easy. Naruto didn't even have to try. Naruto never understood why he had liked her all those years ago.

The chunin gave him his grade sheet. It said 'performance pathetic, pass via win against weak opponent.'

Asshole. He would have been a contender for the top in taijustu if they didn't try to sabotage his scores so much. It was all because the kyuubi was sealed inside of him.

Naruto had found out over a year ago when he reached the intermediate level of fuinjutsu. His Shishou had written him a letter when he reached the intermediate level to talk to the Hokage about the kyuubi. Due to the fact he was moving on to more advanced fuinjutsu and he had 'earned the right' and 'shown the maturity required' or so the note said.

He wasn't happy about it but he accepted their ignorance with maturity… by having a one week pranking spree. Considering what the village put him through he felt they had gotten off easy. Though the Hokage did ask why he did _that _with all the tomatoes in the village. Naruto had told him that his gut said that the tomatoes had somehow offended someone close to him and he was getting revenge on their behalf. Who that was Naruto didn't know, but it just felt right.

As an added bonus he found out that tomatoes were Sasuke's favorite food and that the emo had to go without them for two weeks because of his prank. Naruto felt karma must have given him a bonus for his actions.

That was the only time Naruto ever pulled a prank that involved food. Having lived on the street for a year after getting kicked out of the orphanage, Naruto held food in the highest regard. It was after this prank that Naruto started eating healthy of his own free will. He even had Yugao's mother teach him how to cook.

XXX

Naruto was standing in front of Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei doing his Ninjutsu test. He had already done the kawarimi and the henge. Now all that was left was the stupid bunshin that he could never get to work.

He knew it had to do with his monstrous reserves. He didn't think it was possible for someone with his amount of chakra to form a bunshin even with standard med nin level of control. Since he also had horrible control due to the quantity and potency of his chakra Naruto was screwed. But Naruto never gave up so here goes nothing.

"**Bunshin no Jutsu.**" Smoke surrounded Naruto. Maybe it worked this time.

When the smoke cleared a colorless, shapeless and pathetic clone lay next to him. Well that was the best he had ever got. Yay him.

"Sorry Naruto you fail this section. That means you failed this and the written portion of the exams. Sorry Naruto but I can't pass you." Said Iruka.

"Yeah, it'sok Iruka-sensei." Naruto replied as he slunk out. What was he going to tell Yugao-chan? She was going to kill him. _Literally_.

If Naruto had turned around he would have seen the smirk on Mizuki's face. _Ha, it was a good thing a switched Naruto's final with a history test or he would have passed. _The grader was more than happy to overlook the fact that the fox's final was switched since it caused him to fail. His plan was going perfectly.

XXX

Naruto was sitting in a swing watching the genin and their parents celebrate their graduation while muttering in his direction. He was so out of it he never even noticed Mizuki walk up to him until Mizuki called out to him.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Wow he must have been out of it because it was hard to get the drop on him. He had always been good with his surroundings for some reason.

"What do you want Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I thought you might want to take the supplementary test. It's usually for clans but what the hell." MIzuki said with a grin.

You had to pass two of the tests unless you were from a clan and had an active kekkei genkai. Showing use of clan techniques counted as a pass if you failed or wished to substitute one of the exams. But Naruto didn't have a kekkei genkai.

"You are a good ninja kid. Do this and am sure you will pass. I already talked to the necessary people and they have agreed. So what do you say?"

Naruto was desperate so he did not think twice about it. In hindsight he would realize he should have.

"What's the test MIzuki-sensei?"

Mizuki had him. "It's a mock infiltration mission. You can't tell anyone about the mission. You must sneak into the Hokage tower and steal a scroll. Then you must go to a rendezvous point and learn one jutsu from the scroll. I will come and collect it and return it to the tower completing your mission."

Mizuki gave him his parameters and Naruto didn't find them weird.

His desperation was only one factor. Mizuki had been planning this for years. He had brought it up to the class multiple times about supplementary type examinations given to graduates in the past. He had even let it _slip_ that some were fake infiltration missions to receive things from secure places in the city when talking to Naruto a few weeks ago in the hall. Mizuki had set it up so that Naruto would not find the mission weird.

It was all planned out. Even getting Naruto to try learning a kinjutsu to tire him out so that Mizuki could take the fox out without attracting attention.

XXX

Naruto was at the rendezvous point waiting for Mizuki to show up. He had just finished mastering the first jutsu and memorizing the second when he heard a noise. He turned around to see Iruka-sensei jump down behind him.

"Hey Iruka-sensei, what's up?" said Naruto with a grin.

"What's up?! Naruto, why did you steal the forbidden scroll?" Asked Iruka.

"Wait, what did you call this, the _forbidden_ scroll? You mean to tell me Mizuki-sensei had me steal a scroll full of _kin_jutsu? And he told me to _learn _one?" Naruto's mind suddenly went into overdrive. Naruto's street smarts were smacking him in the face telling him something was wrong.

Before Naruto could figure it out he heard the sound weapons flying through the air and reacted to the familiar sound. Naruto dived and grabbed the scroll and then dashed behind a tree to get some cover. Iruka was behind the tree next to him.

"Hey Naruto, good dodge. You have passed your exam. Give me the scroll and you are done." Yelled the newly arrived Mizuki who was still hiding in the trees.

Iruka's mind finally put the pieces together and realized what Mizuki had done. All those weird speeches about different types of exam to the students now made sense. He had thought it odd that Naruto had failed the written portion so badly. Naruto was excellent at what _should_ have been on his final exam since it was all code, trap theory and fuinjutsu theory this year. In fact Iruka was heading back to the academy to check Naruto's test when the alert went out it was bothering him so bad.

Naruto probably would have bombed the fuinjutsu section since he never got any fuinjutsu questions right in the academy. Naruto was even better at _history _then fuinjutsu for some odd reason.

Little did Iruka know that Naruto got those questions wrong on purpose to hide his fuinjutsu training. It was to practice deception and not too accidentally slip knowledge on fuinjutsu that even jonin don't know.

Naruto shared a knowing look with Iruka letting him know he understood the situation and whispered a plan to Iruka. Iruka was shocked but nodded.

Mizuki was waiting for Naruto or Iruka to come out so he could kill him and get away. He needed to get as much of a lead as possible when the Anbu finally figured out what really happened and send the hunter-nin after him. Maybe he could smoke him out.

"Naruto, ever wondered why the villagers hate you? Why you grew up scorned and abused?"

"Mizuki, DON'T! It's forbidden to-" yelled Iruka.

"It's because you are the demon fox that attacked Konoha thirteen years ago! I will probably get immortalized for finally killing the kyuubi no yoko!"

"Fuck you Mizuki! You are a traitor aren't you!? Why betray the village?" He heard Naruto yell.

Wait, why wasn't he surprised? It was an S class secret so no one could have told him.

Mizuki was so distracted that he never noticed someone sneaking behind him until he heard a footstep land on the tree next to him. He thrust out a kunai held in his hand but his assailant had the element of surprise and the advantageous angle of approach so his blade was easily deflected and his orange clad assailant hit him with a hook to the jaw causing him to fly out of the tree and land unceremoniously in the clearing.

How the fuck did the fox get behind him when he heard him in front of him?

He noticed Iruka coming from his left and threw a barrage of pointed weapons at him forcing Iruka to break off his charge to dodge with a smirk.

Why was Iruka smirking?

He was dazed so when he heard a footstep behind him he immediately dashed away from it not noticing the kunai slipping around his throat in a suppression move.

There is a reason that that is a suppression move. Because it takes very little motion to slice ones throat from that position. Unfortunately for Mizuki, he moved too much.

_Flashback A Few Minutes Ago_

"_Iruka-sensei, I have a plan."_

_Naruto had a plan? He was just a failed academy student. No, Naruto was a genin who was cheated out of his headband. Let's see what the Prankster King of Konoha has planned. Iruka nodded his head._

_Instead of saying anything Naruto made a cross shaped seal and suddenly two bunshin were standing with them. _

_Iruka didn't know what was so special about a couple of illusions. They must have seen his confusion and then picked up a rock. What was a rock going to- wait, a rock? Naruto had learned kage bunshin from the scroll!_

_To learn a technique like that so fast meant that the academy really couldn't see what a potential gem they had lost. Iruka wondered how far Naruto could have gotten with some proper instruction in the ninja arts instead of the bare bone instruction that he had received. _

"_I yell some distractions while one my clones flushes him out, then we flank him from behind."_

"_Then who is protecting the scroll? The scroll is our top priority."_

"_That's what my other clone is for. After we spring the trap, my clone will use the distraction to make a dash back to the village."_

"_No, leave the clones and get back to the village yourself. Shadow clones pop after one hit and are far less skilled than the original. They are chakra constructs so they are not as smart nor can they perform your skills as well." It was weird to think that he was discussing jutsu theory with Naruto. Iruka was Naruto's teacher and he knew most of Naruto's scores were fabricated to keep him down. It was only the threat of torture that kept some (most) of the teachers from risking teaching Naruto wrong theory if anything at all. Without the third who knows how badly they would have screwed up his training._

"_Exactly, you need the help of something more than a bunshin and my clone should have close to my speed. It needs the head start."_

_Iruka sighed "Fine let's do it."_

Present

Naruto stood there in shock, his right arm covered in blood and holding a bloody kunai limply in his hand.

Mizuki had reacted when Naruto went to suppress him and had slit his own throat in the confusion.

Naruto logically knew that the disorientation from being blindsided, the ambush and not knowing that Naruto could use kage bunshin that led to Mizuki making that fatal mistake. But Naruto was thirteen and his right arm was covered in blood. It didn't help that Mizuki was making gurgling sounds while choking on his own blood on the ground.

He was so in shock that he didn't even notice Iruka walk up to him until Iruka clasped his shoulder. Naruto jumped and his kunai fell from his limp hand. "Hey, it's ok. It was an accident. And even if it wasn't, he was a traitor so you were still justified. Hey, Naruto, look at me."

Naruto turned his head in Iruka's direction. Naruto's eyes looked less vibrant than usual but there was still a spark. Good, he was just in shock from an out of nowhere first kill.

"I get it. I know why it happened. I mean we have been preparing for our first kill for years. It was just so sudden. And the gargling was a little disconcerting."

Disconcerting? Since when did Naruto use words like _that_? Oh, Naruto was playing dumb in class. But why would he?

"Naruto, you have been pretending to be dumb haven't you? Why practice deception in your own village?"

"Hey, I have only been dumbing it down on the tests. The in class is all me." Except for the fuinjutsu of course. "Besides they mark me down less if I don't score above half the class. All those ass holes think I am the kyuubi like Mizuki here. And yes I know that the kyuubi is sealed in me. The Hokage told me."

Well that answered those questions thought Iruka. Only one thing left to do. "Naruto close your eyes for a second."

Naruto gave Iruka a weird look but did it anyway. He heard some sounds and felt some cloth wrap around his head. Naruto opened his eyes and saw a smiling Iruka without his headband. Naruto put his hand on his head and felt the cool metal and traced the leaf symbol with his fingers.

"Congratulations Naruto, you pass."

Naruto didn't know what to say so he just grabbed Iruka in a giant hug.

XXX

Naruto was standing in the Hokage's office with a grin on his face. He and Iruka had just finished giving there written and verbal briefs.

"Well I have reviewed your genin test and agree that it was doctored. So I am approving the removal of the traitor Mizuki as a graduation test supplement. This will be recorded as a B rank mission between you and Iruka and you will be paid accordingly. You are both dismissed." The Hokage would have asked Naruto to stay and talk about his first kill but it appears as though Iruka did it already. Iruka had certainly earned a little respect in the Hokage's eyes.

XXX

Naruto woke up the next day to the sound of his alarm clock.

"Grr, stupid clock." Naruto got up from his crappy mattress and out of his second hand sheets. Naruto then took a nice hot shower. He used to take cold ones due to his land lord refusing to fix his broken water heater until Naruto had learned a heating fuinjutsu. He loved fuinjutsu.

Naruto made himself a breakfast of fish, rice and miso. Over the years Naruto had the importance of eating right literally shoved down his throat by Yugao-chans mother. It helped that Naruto seemed to have a flair for cooking. It was too bad he could never convince Ichikaru's to teach him how to make their ramen. They always said something about losing business and Naruto killing himself with too much ramen. Like there was such a thing as too much ramen.

All Naruto had to do today was get his picture for his genin file and pick up something he had ordered. Oh and he had dinner with Yugao-chan and her parent tonight to celebrate his graduation.

He would be placed in his team tomorrow.

XXX

Naruto had just finished turning in his genin picture in his orange jump suit. It would be his last picture in his clothes of awesome.

Naruto was on his way to Konoha Blade and Thread. It was run by Tenten's family. He liked the shop but did not get along with Tenten in spite of her being Yugao-chans friend.

It was probably because she was so nosy. Both he and Tenten go to the same fuinjutsu supply place and she always tried to look in his orders and lecture him on fuinjutsu. She wasn't even a real fuinjutsuist. She and the rest of konoha went there to order specialty made scrolls and seals.

In konoha it was illegal to make fuinjutsu to sell unless you had a license to do so. Since only one shop had that license it wasn't that surprising. You could go to any ninja weapons shop and buy standard sealing scrolls since they kept them in stock but you had to go to his shop to put in specialty orders.

Naruto went there for his fuinjutsu supplies. The shop owner knew he was a true fuinjutuist because he got the ingredients for fuinjutsu ink rather than buying the premade ink. They knew he wasn't the kyuubi so they treated him well. The fact that he was a true fuinjutsuist and had told them he was from the Uzumaki clan made him almost family.

Apparently the owners father used to have fuinjutsu supply shop in Uzushiogakure and had been lucky enough to be on a trip when Uzushiogakure had fallen. Naruto had wished he was still alive because he would have loved to learn of his peoples home from someone who had lived there.

Tenten had special permission to order custom fuinjutsu work since you needed to be chunin or have approval from your jonin sensei to order custom fuinjutsu supplies. Naruto just went there for basic supplies like blank scrolls, ink ingredients, blank tags and brushes.

They had never offered to let Naruto buy any completed fuinjutsu since it would be rude to do so. Naruto could make almost anything that the shop could make. The amount of money he saved making his own fuinjutsu was another reason he loved fuinjutsu.

Naruto walked into the ninja weapons shop noticing the loud creak of the door. Naruto knew it had to be on purpose. Naruto noticed Tenten was manning the front of the shop.

"Welcome to- oh, it's just you. What do you want? Yugao is on a mission so you won't find her here. So go play in the sandbox by yourself." Tenten always treated Naruto like a little kid but it never got a large rise out of him. It had become sort of a game to see if she could bring him down. She had to do it as soon as they meet and only then or it would just be mean.

Naruto hardly even noticed it. He had been beaten, ridiculed, scorned, hated and everything else in the book since he was born.

Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage when he was six and lived on the street for a year. People had beaten, scorned, spat on, or just ignored him when he was covered in filthy rags.

The whores and homeless people had shown him what true character was. They had protected him and even shared some of their food with him. Naruto had to eat out of different dumpsters than the other homeless because shop owners would spread rat poison in any dumpster the found him eating out of. Rat poison gave him an upset stomach. He figured the kyuubi gave him his high resistance to poison.

Tenten's childish attempts to get a rise out of him didn't even register. Besides he could tell that she had no ill feelings towards him. They didn't get along but were kind of friends thanks to Yugao.

"I am here to pick up my order. It should be under Uzumaki." Naruto explained.

"Order? Oh yeah, you graduated yesterday. The headband should have been a dead giveaway." Most new genin ordered weapons before graduation. It had become so common that they had a standard graduate pack that most genin ordered. They ordered them while in the academy and we made that many orders. They picked basic or advanced kit. Which did he say again?

Wait he said under Uzumaki. That meant a custom order. Oh yeah, he was getting rid of that horrible jump suit because of Yugao and her mom made him some clothes.

The shop had weapons and clothes. Her dad made the weapons and her mom made the clothes. She heard that her mom gave him a discount as thanks to getting rid of that jumpsuit as long as she could burn them all herself. And considering he pulled out a scroll that probably contained his jump suits she was inclined to believe it.

XXX

Naruto walked out of Blade and Treads a little sadder than he had walked in. Naruto was now wearing green cargo shorts and a blue tee shirt. He had the rest of his stuff in a pair of scrolls in his equipment pouch.

He hadn't realized that when Tenten's mom said she wanted to burn all his jumpsuits; that she meant it literally. The laughing she did as she watched his jumpsuits burn was creepy.

Naruto had decided to wear his new awesome ninja threads tomorrow.

XXX

Naruto woke up the next day refreshed. Naruto woke up with a feeling of contentment that he could not quite explain.

As Naruto tried to get up he figured out why. His chest was being used as a pillow by someone with shoulder length purple hair while his arm was wrapped around said person. Naruto sighed and started to shake her awake. Most would wonder why Naruto wasn't freaking out that there was a purple haired girl in his bed. Well this particular purple haired girl was named Yugao Uzuki and this was not the first time this had happened.

He had gone to her house the night before for dinner and she had come home with him when he left. She had decided to get in bed with him rather than go home when it got late. Heck all she did was take off her shoes, sword and jacket so she was still in most of her Uniform.

Yugao's uniform was a blue shirt with a silver sleeveless jacket, black Anbu pants, standard ninja sandals, small equipment pouch and a plain katana.

Yugao grumbled awake. "What do you want Naru? Go back to sleep." She then proceeded to tighten her hold on him and snuggle closer.

"I need to get to the academy to get my team assignments Yu." In public they called each other by their names, but in private it was Naru and Yu. They did not know why, it just was.

Yugao eventually let him go and Naruto got ready for his first day as a genin.

XXX

Naruto opened the door to his academy classroom wearing his new clothes. Naruto had replaced his headband cloth to red in honor of his clan and their red hair. Naruto now wore a rust orange shirt, black Anbu pants, dual leg kunai holsters with orange bandages, close toe shinobi shoes and to finish it off, a long sleeve red coat with black trim that went down to his knees. The only visible marking on the jacket was a blue Uzumaki swirl on his left shoulder with a silver outline.

The class looked at the new comer in confusion until they realized that it was Naruto. It took a while due to the lack of orange jumpsuitness.

Kiba decided to break the silence. "Hey doofus, this classroom is for people who graduated. There should be another classroom for losers like you." Kiba sneered. Naruto always got horrible scores and everyone knew he was to be avoided or his stupid would rub off. Hell, even the adults avoided and scorned him.

Naruto just pointed to his headband and gave Kiba the 'are you dumb' look. Normally Naruto would do more but he was always in a good mood the mornings after Yugao slept over for some strange reason. It must be because he was lonely or something.

Kiba was about to respond with a comment worthy of his alpha status when the door to the classroom flew open.

"First!" Both Sakura and Ino yelled as they entered the classroom at the same time.

Sakura was a skinny girl with long bubble gum pink hair held by her headband, green eyes and a large forehead. She wore red qipao with a white circle on the bottom, black shorts with a kunai holster on the right leg and standard shinobi sandals.

Ino was an equally skinny girl with long blond hair in a ponytail and also had green eyes. She wore purple sleeveless top and purple skirt with a slit and had wrappings on her stomach and legs. She also wore arm warmers and kept her headband tied to her waist.

These two were the head of the Junior Sasuke Fan Club. This made Naruto actually feel sorry for Sasuke. Mainly because they took the name Junior Sasuke Fan Club because the name Sasuke Fan Club was already taken.

"Hi Sakura, hi Ino." Naruto greeted with a wave.

And was completely ignored while they continued to bicker who had entered first and therefore who got to sit next to Sasuke. Naruto decided to just ignore them in favor of finding a seat before his good mood evaporated completely.

Naruto decided to sit next to Choji who was eating a bag of chips in the morning. Choji was a chubby boy with spiky brown hair that was held down except for two tufts on the side by his headband. Choji wore a shirt with the kanji for food on it, black shorts with kunai holster on his right leg, standard shinobi sandals, wrappings on his legs and his arms up to his elbow, a green short sleeved jacket and a large white scarf.

"Hey Choji, got any food to spare? I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast before I left this morning." Asked Naruto.

Choji didn't say a word while passing Naruto a bag of chips from… somewhere.

Naruto took the bag gratefully. Choji and Shikamaru were the only people Naruto got along with in class.

Shikamaru was sleeping with his head in his arms on the desk on the other side of Choji. Shikamaru was the classes' resident underachieving genius.

Shikamaru had black hair in a ponytail that looked like the top of a pineapple, a wire mesh shirt, very high water pants with a kunai holster on his right leg, standard shinobi sandals like most of the class, a silver jacket with green trim and blue circles and had his headband on tied to his left shoulder.

The class was mostly chatting and saying how awesome ninja they were going to be when Iruka walked in and everyone quieted down in anticipation.

"Good morning everyone, and congratulations on graduating. My last act as your sensei is to tell you your new sensei and your assigned teams." Iruka went through the team assignments in order.

"Team seven under Kakashi Hatake is Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno" cue Sakura's girly squeal "and Choji Akimichi."

Shikamaru actually picked up his head from the desk at that. He was sure that Konoha would want another team to emulate their fathers. Shikamaru was sure the basic team strategy hadn't changed. So who was the new Choji so to speak since he was positive him and Ino would still be on the same team?

"Team nine is still in circulation so team ten under Asuma Sarutobi is Shikamaru Naru, Ino Yamanaka and Naruto Uzumaki. That completes the team assignments. You have one hour until your jonin sensei's show up, so use that time to get better acquainted with your new teams."

So Naruto was their teams muscle so to speak. Shikamaru knew Naruto was far more than his academy grades suggested and his scores and grades were obviously sabotaged. When he presented his concerns to his father his father had said that there was no problem as long as they did not sabotage the training itself.

Something didn't add up with Naruto; it was as though Shikamaru was missing some key pieces to the puzzle that was Naruto Uzumaki. Shikamaru found it to be too troublesome to actually investigate before but now that they were on the same team so Shikamaru would probably have to. What could he not be seeing about a guy who was only ranked best in the class in penmanship?

XXX

The teams had returned from lunch and were now waiting impatiently for their jonin sensei's to show up. One by one sensei's came in and took their new genin and left.

Finally a tall man with a beard minus the mustache part, long sleeve shirt rolled up part way up his forearm showing two black armbands, blue pants, standard shinobi sandals, a standard dark green flak jacket and a sash around his waist with the symbol for fire on it.

The man asked "Team nine?" when the three of us responded he grunted and said "Follow me." And then walked out of the classroom without even looking back.

Naruto was both excited and nervous about his new team. He was excited to be a ninja and being able to go on awesome missions; but he was nervous that his sensei would be an ass to him because he was a jinchuuriki. Oh who was he kidding, if he was an ass he would just prank him until he stopped or it was proportional to his ass level… times two. What could Naruto say; he was in a good mood today.

The four of them walked in relative silence except for Ino complaining about not knowing where they were going and being ignored.

Doing fuinjutsu had taught Naruto some patience. But you can only teach so much patience to a chakra battery like Naruto. Naruto was about to lose what little patience he had when they entered a field and their jonin sensei stopped and turned to face them.

"Well I guess the best place to start is introductions. I'll go first. My name is Asuma Sarutobi; you can call me Asuma-sensei. I am a jonin of Konoha no Sato, I am skilled at close range combat, fire jutsu, and wind jutsu. I like smoking and relaxing, while I dislike overbearing people who tell me what to do. How about you go next blondie?"

Naruto growled, 'blondie'? There went Naruto's good mood. He was sensitive about his hair color. He had wanted strait red hair ever since he heard it was is clans natural hair color. He would have looked so cool in strait red hair. He would pay.

When Ino started talking Naruto stopped his diabolical plans when he realized that he had been talking to Ino and not him.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka and I am the heir to the Yamanaka clan. I have my clans technique and like _my_ Sasuke-kun. I dislike Sakura for getting in between Sasuke-kuns and my love."

Naruto decided to go next. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am the future Hokage of Konoha dattebayo! I am skilled at Taijutsu, ninjutsu, and fuinjutsu. I like ramen and my best friend Yugao-chan. I dislike those that can not tell the difference between a kunai and the sealing scroll it is sealed into." Naruto fixed Asuma with a stare when he said that.

Asuma looked Naruto in the eye and then smirked while giving him a short nod.

Ino then ruined the moment by saying "Fuinjutsu? You suck at fuinjutsu. I never saw you get a single theory or identification correct in fuinjutsu. Then again it is expected from one of the bottom in the class."

Naruto just shrugged. He wasn't going to explain his skills. Besides, all they learned in the academy regards to fuinjutsu was basic identification and _very_ basic abstract theory.

Shikamaru replied with a sigh. "Troublesome. Anyway, I'm Shikamaru Nara and I am skilled in my clan jutsu." This was obviously their jonins way of getting a feel for our ninja skills and personality. "I like cloud watching and dislike overachieving."

Asuma thought it was as expected. He knew that for Naruto he could not use his academy file as a measuring stick due to discrimination, so he might as well get a new baseline for all his prospective genin while he gave them their actual genin test. Oh well, it would have to wait until tomorrow since he had a date with Kurenai. He had time for the traditional you haven't graduated scare. Kakashi said it was fun.

"Ok, now for the bad news…" Build up for dramatic effect. "You haven't actually graduated yet. You have to pass your jonins test, aka _my_ test or you go back to the academy for remedial training." Wait for it…

"What?!" screamed the two blonds on his team in sink. The looks on their faces was amusing and slightly cathartic.

"Sorry but those are the rules. Also two thirds of the graduates don't pass this exam. Be here tomorrow at nine am." Asuma then left in a leaf shunshin to get ready for his lunch date with Kurenai.

XXX

Naruto was back at his apartment in his spare bedroom. His apartment had two bedrooms. One was for sleeping while the other was his fuinjutsu room. Naruto knew that his whole apartment was protected by fuinjutsu from his mysterious shishou but the fuinjutsu on this room outclassed the rest of the house.

This room was keyed to Naruto and the shishou he had never met. Not even Yugao-chan knew what was in this room.

Naruto was currently working on his most complicated project to date, putting an array of fuinjutsu on his custom ninja cloaks. Naruto had two cloaks just in case one was completely destroyed and even if he worked all night he wasn't sure he would finish even one cloak even with his epiphany of using clones to help.

He knew exactly what he wanted to do and with notes to and from his shishou he knew exactly how to do it for about a month now. The problem was that what he wanted to do was long and complicated so it required a lot of time to apply the fuinjutsu arrays to the jacket.

He had only had until dinner yesterday to work on the cloak so far since he had to go to Yugao's yesterday so he had not gotten as far as he would have liked.

Oh well, he would need the cloak ready by tomorrow since the cloak would carry most of his supplies in seals and in scrolls that would be in the pockets his clones were now carefully sowing into the inside of his cloak.

Naruto could not wait to try this stuff out tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Nice long first chapter. Be sure to check out my profile and vote on my pole.<strong>

**Please leave favorites, follows and reviews at the door.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sigh… I was 2,000 words into this chapter when my computer lost it, so now I have to type it from scratch. Sob.**

**On that note I am just going to start…again.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in case any of you are confused. But I appreciate the confusion.**

* * *

><p>Naruto was sitting under a tree in the same field as yesterday with the rest of his new team waiting for their new potential sensei.<p>

Naruto tried to stifle a yawn while trying to stay alert. He had stayed up until four in the morning placing the seals on one of his jackets. But the results were worth it.

The jacket looked the same except for all the pockets and patches sown on the inside but his jacket was actually his most advanced piece of fuinjutsu to date. He would have never been able to do it at his level without help from shishous letters giving him advice and tips.

Naruto tried to keep an eye out for their sensei since his team obviously wasn't.

Shikamaru was lying down and watching the clouds while Ino was off in her own world lamenting on how Sasuke must be so lonely without his Ino-chan.

Naruto tuned his head to his left just as his sensei showed up in a leaf shunshin.

"Hey everyone. Ready for your test?" Asuma smirked while lighting a cigarettes with direct flame manipulation. Heck, if he could burn a leaf, he could light the tip of a cigarette the same way.

After he had their attention he explained the rules. This was going to be fun, for him at least. "Ok the rules are simple. The three of you against me. If you impress me I will train you. This is on an individual grading scale so how the others do doesn't matter. So it is best to focus on yourself. The person or persons that don't impress me get sent back to the academy. Remember to come at me with the intent to kill if you want a chance of impressing me. You have half an hour, begin." Little did they know that all the jonin gave their teams teamwork tests. This would test whether they would naturally use teamwork in a situation where there was no clear incentive to do so or would they throw each other under the bus to get ahead.

Ino jumped for cover like the academy taught her while neither Naruto nor Shikamaru moved.

Naruto turned to Shikamaru "Want to double team him?"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto "What about Ino?"

Naruto turned behind him and looked directly at a tree and said "Want to triple team him Ino?"

The tree responded a little uncertainly. "Um…ok?"

Asuma raised an eyebrow and thought the kid is perceptive. The kid was full of surprises. Since it was obvious that Naruto was taking charge Asuma waited to see what the kid would do.

Naruto then turned to Shikamaru "Shikamaru, what's the plan?"

Asuma face faulted. The kid seemed unpredictable and that made him dangerous as a shinobi.

Shikamaru thought hard about their plan of attack. It seemed he was correct in assuming that Asuma would wait for them to make a move. The problem wasn't that he knew nothing about his opponent but rather that he lacked information on is teammates, specifically Naruto. Things just didn't add up around Naruto. So that left only one real plan for now.

"Naruto, you attack Asuma with everything you got and we will back you up. Ino will pepper him from long range while I wait for an opening." This way he got info on their sensei and Naruto.

Naruto charged Asuma while throwing a pair of kunai to see how their sensei would react.

Asuma merely side stepped the kunai as they passed harmlessly by. Or would have if they didn't explode as they passed by his face.

Naruto didn't even pause to watch the log where his sensei used to be explode into splinters as he dashed to his left where his teacher reappeared and engaged him in Taijutsu. Asuma blocked Naruto's opening move and every move thereafter with ease.

No matter what Naruto tried he could not make any headway. He tried a strait and got thrown when his arm was caught. He tried to go low and was kneed in the face. It was time for a change of tactics. If quality wasn't going to work he would go with quantity.

Naruto put the first two fingers of each hand together in a cross shaped seal, channeled as much chakra as he could and called out "**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!**" And almost a thousand clones appeared and filled the clearing.

Everyone stopped including Naruto. Both Asuma and Naruto were amazed at how many clones he could make. Of course the skill and complexity of thought of the clones degraded with the more clones that were made but the numbers alone were staggering. Maybe he could actually beat a jonin.

No sooner had Naruto thought that did Asuma finish his hand signs and spew out smoke that engulfed his clones.

Shikamaru noticed something odd with the smoke and yelled "Everyone, gunpowder, disperse!"

No sooner did everyone get out of the way did it explode in a flaming inferno taking out all of Naruto's clones either directly or with the aftershock. Stupid one hit clones.

"Whoa, I so want to learn to do that." Said Naruto.

Out of the smoke walked out an untouched Asuma lighting a new cigarette. "Not bad kid, you made me drop my cigarette. What's next?"

Shikamaru turned to Naruto. "What is the weakness of those solid clones other than their limited intelligence and their frailty?"

Naruto turned to Shikamaru with a gob smacked expression. "How did you know that?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Other than the fact that would be the obvious limitations of solid chakra constructs? They didn't react when I yelled _gunpowder_ and some of your clones dispelled when the concussive force and _debris_ hit them. Therefore, dumb and frail." Not to mention the chakra requirements must be ridiculous.

Naruto nodded his head because it made sense, but how much of a genius do you have to be to be able to make those kinds of conclusions at a _glance_? He even noticed they were solid and didn't assume Naruto had just finally learned the most basic of academy jutsu.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Asuma clearing his throat. "As amusing as your conversation is, shouldn't you be attacking? You do want to pass, right?" They had technically passed like twenty seconds into the test but he wasn't going to tell them that. He still needed to get an accurate baseline of their skills, especially Naruto. It had nothing to do with being annoyed they passed his test so easily or that he was enjoying screwing with them. None at all.

"Why? It's obvious that you are going to wait for us to attack." Replied Shikamaru.

Yep, definitely a lazy genius. At least his file seemed accurate.

"Naruto force him into the trees and stay out in the clearing to keep him trapped."

"Ok!" yelled Naruto as he charged again and made three more clones to force his sensei into the trees.

Asuma quickly dispelled the clones and threw Naruto into the trees to see what traps the genin had laid but nothing was triggered.

Asuma jumped further into the clearing when Ino launched a barrage of shuriken at him from the trees. Naruto charged back out and threw more kunai which Asuma dodged widely. Naruto threw another lone kunai with a tag attached and Asuma dodged again standing next to a tree where Shikamaru was who immediately tried to ensnare him in his shadow.

Asuma dodged at jonin speeds, disappearing from their eyes and appeared behind Naruto who appeared to be their play maker. But Naruto reacted immediately to his presence and threw a kick behind him.

Asuma was surprised. Not surprised enough not to catch Naruto's awkward kick in his hand but the fact that Naruto reacted to his presence so quickly.

Naruto forewent his footing and placed his hands on the ground while simultaneously jerking his caught foot and bringing his other foot around to snap Asuma's now stiff wrist.

Asuma let go and saved his wrist if only just. Asuma was impressed with all of them. Naruto was definitely skilled in Taijutsu, but it appeared that the academy style wasn't a fit for his mentality. He would talk to Tou-san about getting Naruto a specialty style.

Asuma was about to congratulate him when suddenly his world went blank.

"**Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switching Technique)** was a success." Said Shikamaru who walked up with a collapsed and defenseless Ino.

"Wow Shikamaru your plan worked." Complemented Naruto. "Now how should we prank him?"

"That's enough." Said Asuma's body.

"Why? It would be funny and we can have some blackmail material so he has to pass us." Complained Naruto. He still wasn't sure that Asuma wouldn't fail him for some fuzzy reason.

"Naruto, that isn't me." Said Ino from across the field.

"Huh?" Naruto looked between his sensei and the now conscious Ino. Then from Ino back to Asuma with a confused look on his face. This happened a few more times before the proverbial light came on. "Oh shit! Come on sensei, you know that we were kidding right?" Naruto replied nervously while looking at his sensei and slowly backing away. Naruto made sure to not turn his back on his potential sensei.

Asuma said nothing while looking up. "It appears that close enough to half an hour has passed. No point in drawing this out. It's not like my decision is going to change." Asuma watched Naruto's face with a calm an impassive face, while in the inside he was reveling on getting some revenge on the Pranking King of Konoha.

"You all…" Pause for dramatic effect. "Pass." Wait for it.

"Yeah, were awesome dattebayo! Stupid verbal tic."

Shikamaru broke the reveille with a simple statement. "Took you long enough to get what you needed after we passed."

When Naruto and Ino looked at him in confusion he sighed and continued. "The test was obviously a teamwork exercise to see if we would put the team ahead of ourselves. We passed that test almost instantly but he was trying to get a feel for our abilities. Like our academy scores were not enough to get a baseline for some reason." Shikamaru noticed Naruto flinching.

"Who cares? We passed! Wait till I tell Sasuke-kun!"

"Anyway, good work team ten. Let me turn in my results into the Hokage. Meet me back here at training field ten at ten."

With that their new official sensei disappeared in a leaf shunshin.

XXX

Asuma was with the rest of the jonin sensei giving their reports on their teams.

This was taking forever since they had to give oral reports for each team who failed and why.

Teams one through six had failed and team sevens jonin sensei was late as usual.

"Team eight?" Asked the Hokage.

Kurenai stepped forward. Kurenai was a beautiful woman with messy long black hair held by her head band, exotic red eyes, pale skin, had a wire mesh shirt, wraps on her hands and thighs, standard shinobi sandals and was wrapped in wide bandages that had black thorn designs on it with a long red right sleeve.

"Team eight has passed. Note that Kiba is a pervert and that Hinata is unusually shy." Kurenai then stepped back.

Some of the jonin and even the Hokage prayed for Kiba. Kurenai was a well known pervert hater and her anti pervert genjutsu were legendary.

The Hokage felt a little bad putting a well known pervert with a pervert hating sensei but his mother had insisted for 'his own good.' "Good, finally. I was beginning to think that no team had passed. Team nine is in use from last year so team ten?"

Asuma stepped forward. "Team ten has passed. Note that they have shown exceptional teamwork. Shikamaru should take an IQ test because his intelligence seems to be genius level but to what extent is unknown. Naruto shows that the standard academy style does not fit him. I recommend that Naruto be given a specialized Taijutsu style. Also please note that Naruto is a natural sensor. I request a test and proper training material to reflect that."

"What do you mean the demon is a sensor?" asked one of the jonin.

"Yeah, how could a loser like that have such a rare natural skill?" Asked another jonin.

"Enough." That one word from the Hokage shut them up. The Hokage had not only earned respect, he demanded it from his ninja.

"Thank you for your report. I will have a specialist give Naruto a sensor test to verify his sensor status and a Taijutsu test to determine an appropriate style. Shikamaru will be given an IQ test. Bring them both here tomorrow at eleven for testing. Also, go to Inochi and remind him to tell Ino the fact to that his daughters mind techniques are forbidden on Naruto. Going into his mind would probably destroy hers. I believe she is the only one in her clan that has not been cautioned on this. The reason is still an S class secret so tell her he has a natural defense or something." The Hokage looked around and sighed. "Since it appears that Kakashi is going to be late again you are all dismissed."

XXX

Naruto and his team were at training ground ten waiting for their sensei to show up.

Naruto looked behind him as their sensei appeared in a leaf shunshin again. Naruto so wanted to learn that move. It would make all his entrances so much more cool and ninjaee.

"Hello team. The three of us are going to do some testing today at the Hokage's office."

"What, more testing? I thought we were done. You said that we were done." Complained Naruto with an accusatory tone.

"This is important stuff. This will shape your genin training and your whole ninja career." That should motivate them.

When Asuma noticed that their expressions hadn't changed he was confused.

"Sensei, they always say that." Naruto explained with a deadpanned expression.

"Troublesome."

"Come on guys. This could be important. And I will show that big fore headed book worm who the best kunoichi is." Ino said with fire in her eyes.

Well at least one of them was excited. Too bad it was the one not taking a test.

XXX

Team ten walked into the Hokage's office where he was giving out mission orders with Iruka to team seven with Kakashi.

"Tou-san, here as ordered." Greeted Asuma with a halfhearted wave.

"Hello Hokage-sama." Ino replied respectfully and with a small bow.

"Heya Jiji. Hey Choji. Hey Iruka-sensei." Greeted Naruto with a smile.

Naruto then turned to Sasuke and smirked. "Teme."

Sasuke grunted. "Dobe."

Shikamaru found it too troublesome to say anything.

Choji replied with a smile and a wave. Shikamaru went to Choji to talk.

Sakura who was there with her team replied "Naruto! That is no way to speak to the Hokage!" _Or Sasuke-kun! Shannaro! _Screamed both inner and outer Sakura while they fixed him with a glare. She had the urge to hit him but the knowledge that Naruto let _no one _hit him without hitting them back stopped her.

Naruto could tell that Sakura wanted to hit him like she used to before he changed his stance on letting people get free shots at him. It was actually Yugao who made him stop taking peoples crap like Sakura's beatings.

Yugao never tried to hurt him except for the occasional spar. Naruto didn't count shoulder thumping or smacking upside the head for being stupid as abuse, at least not from his best friend. Speaking of best friends.

"Hey Jiji, now that I have a headband and everything, I can tell Yugao-chan about _that_ right?" inquired Naruto.

"I am assuming you are talking about your calligraphy hobby. Of course you can." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But most ninja don't make it a habit of telling everyone their hobbies." Replied the Hokage with a smile. Naruto was really bursting to tell his best friend the only positive secret he had about himself.

Sakura was twitching in anger at being ignored. Who the hell did he think he was ignoring her, Sasuke-kun?

"Don't ignore me Naruto baka!" yelled Sakura.

Naruto asked the Hokage "So what's this about a test?" Naruto hated tests.

He was still ignoring her?! "Naruto!"

Naruto turned to Sakura and said "Wow that is rude of you to ignore Sasuke when he is talking to you. Look at how bummed he looks." With fake sincerity.

"What?" Sakura was instantly at Sasuke's side acting apologetic and trying to look cute at the same time. "Oh I am so sorry Sasuke-kun! What did you want to talk about?"

Sasuke fixed him with a glare for using him as a scape goat.

Naruto gave him another smirk and shrugged. They kind of bonded over the whole no family thing, but their personalities were like oil and water.

Kakashi decided he had enough fun watching them for now. Man did he wish that the Hokage had given him Naruto like he had asked. The fun he could have had at the others expense would have been priceless. "Come on team, we have some training to do."

"Troublesome. Might as well get this over with." Said Shikamaru as team seven left.

"Glad to see you are all so motivated." The Hokage replied with fake cheer. As Ino smacked him for being so lazy.

Shikamaru was too lazy to react.

The Hokage turned his head to Iruka. "Iruka, you will take Shikamaru here to the academy for his test."

Iruka merely nodded and left with Shikamaru in tow.

The Hokage then turned to his son. "You will take Ino. Her father has expressed that he would like you to reinforce his talk with her last night."

"Sure thing pops. Come on Ino." And Asuma left with Ino.

This left only Naruto. Naruto was hoping that maybe he didn't have to take a test. He really hated tests.

The Hokage snapped his fingers and a black haired Anbu in a white Chameleon mask appeared.

"Chameleon, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto, Chameleon here will be giving you your test."

Chameleon turned to Naruto and said nothing as he walked out the door.

Naruto guessed he was supposed to follow. He knew from pranking experience that Anbu rarely talked.

He followed the Anbu to a big room with fuinjutsu on every surface. Naruto could guess what it did but it didn't make any sense as to why. Maybe he was missing something.

Chameleon gestured to the center of the room and Naruto followed. When Naruto got there Chameleon pulled out a blind fold and handed it to him.

"Um, ok?" Naruto put on the blindfold. This was one weird test. Oh well, at least it wasn't a written test.

"I want you to gesture or point to where you feel a disturbance." Chameleon said.

"What, could you give any more cryptic instructions?" Naruto replied with sarcasm.

Chameleon ignored him. And then Naruto felt something to his right and above.

Naruto pointed with his hand. Then it moved to his left next to his foot.

This kept up for a while. The direction, distance and even clarity shifted. Sometimes there was more than one and sometimes they moved slowly so he followed them with his hands.

After a while they stopped and Chameleon said "Take off the blindfold."

When Naruto did he saw Chameleon in a ready stance "Prepare. Taijutsu only."

Naruto put his brain into overdrive to try and figure out what was going on and came up with… nothing. Oh well, he wasn't a deep thinker anyway. He was a more of a on the fly kind of guy. At least it wasn't a written test.

XXX

Shikamaru entered his old academy classroom. It was empty and quiet, perfect place for a nap. Yeah, he would just barley pass whatever the test was and take a nice nap. Maybe later he could go cloud watching with Choji to really make full use of his day.

Iruka gestured to the far end of the room where there was a frying pan. Shikamaru paled. He had a bad feeling about this. He walked over to it and it was his mother's frying pan with a written test inside. He knew it was his mother's because of all the dents courtesy of his fathers and his heads.

_Damn it._

XXX

Ino was out with their sensei who was smoking again much to her annoyance.

"So what are we doing?" Asked Ino.

"Your father had a talk with you yesterday right?" Maybe this would be quick and easy.

"Yeah, I can't go into Naruto's mind for any reason, ever. Why though?" Asked Ino with a look in her eyes.

Asuma recognized that look as a gossip look. Sigh this was going to suck.

"Well Ino, Naruto has these odd natural defenses that can cause problems to mind walkers such as yourself." He could see teenage rebellion in her eyes. He didn't want to do this but going into Naruto's mind could theoretically cripple her so he had to squash her teenage rebellion now. He started directing killing intent at her and was about to speak when Ino cut him off.

"Oh, I was only kidding. I tried when we were in the academy as a joke and Naruto flung me out instantly with ridiculous ease. My head wouldn't stop spinning for days. I am not going through _that_ again." Ino started holding her head in phantom pains as she remembered the incident. Worst migraine ever.

"Oh… ok. You have the rest of the day off since I don't know when Naruto and Shikamaru will be done with their tests." With that Asuma walked away with his cigarette in hand. He should tell Tou-san what the reaction was.

Ino stood there wondering what to do. She could go back home and man the shop or she could go see if Sasuke was done for the day. Hmm… now if I were Sasuke where would I be?

XXX

Shikamaru was doing his test diligently and expeditiously. Why might you ask? Because every time he tried to shirk the pan would know. Every time he tried the pan would let out this dark aura like it knew what he was doing.

He wasn't crazy, it was true. The pan knows.

XXX

Naruto was on the ground wheezing.

Stupid Chameleon. How is kicking his ass eight ways to Sunday a test.

The match had started out fun. Chameleon kept his skills near Naruto's. He had slowly brought them up until he overwhelmed him. Then he stopped attacking and started dodging by narrower and narrower margins. Then he decided to pummel him in different ways. First it was strikes, then throws, then grapples and then nerve clusters. Then he decided to get weird. He even head butted him five times in a row in different areas. Even his patterns and timing changed.

The logical optimist part of Naruto would say he was getting a lot of experience with different styles with one person and he should be grateful. Every other part of him had been pummeled on for half an hour by a mute Anbu agent and told his logical optimist to shove it. He hadn't said one word or made one sound since they started.

XXX

Shikamaru was finally done with his test. Finally he could get away from that frying pan.

"Iruka." He called out to Iruka who was sitting at his old teacher's desk at the front of the room.

"All done?" Asked Iruka. He had no idea why there was a frying pan there though. Or why Shikamaru kept glancing at it. Maybe the frying pan was part of the test?

"Yes. Can I leave?" asked Shikamaru hopefully.

"Sure." Iruka replied with a shrug.

Shikamaru looked back to the frying pan one last time with a victorious smirk…but it was gone. Shikamaru bolted out the door and did not look back until he was well clear of the academy.

"Weird kid." Commented Iruka with a shrug.

XXX

Naruto was barley standing on shaking legs as the Anbu kept on with the test. Naruto probably could have just collapsed and the test would be over but thoughts of quitting never entered his mind.

"Enough." Said the Anbu as he turned to leave.

"No." said Naruto. At least that's what he hoped he said. His face was so swollen and cut up on the inside he wasn't sure he could speak.

But Chameleon paused so Naruto assumed he got the idea at least.

"Enough. We have been at it for over an hour and you are too exhausted to do anything else." Chameleon paused as if he wanted to say more. The kid had earned some praise. "You did well kid. Some Anbu could learn from your determination."

Naruto gave Chameleon a bloody smile and promptly collapsed.

XXX

The Hokage was sitting in his office doing paperwork when he paused. "Report."

Chameleon appeared in front of him. "Hokage-sama. Chameleon reporting on Uzumaki Naruto's test results."

The Hokage nodded his head for the Anbu to continue. "Uzumaki is defiantly a natural sensor. I recommend that he be given the appropriate information and material for his training. Results of Uzumaki Naruto's Taijutsu test are as follows, Uzumaki Naruto is an aggressive fighter with excellent combat awareness and reasoning. Uzumaki also shows high levels of stamina and in my personal opinion, an unbreakable will."

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose at that declaration. Chameleon never gave personal opinions. Naruto must have impressed him immensely.

"Based on this I recommend a speed and counter style that focuses on precision strikes rather than powerful blows." Chameleon paused for a second. "Hokage-sama, permission to speak freely?"

The Hokage was shocked. The ever strait laced and proper Chameleon asking for opinion to speak freely was unheard of. "Permission granted."

"I personally recommend the twin swallow style for Naruto Uzumaki."

"Twin Swallow? But that is an incomplete style that no one has ever mastered. Are you sure that Naruto can master a formless style?"

"Absolutely." Replied Chameleon instantly. "I believe he will master it through sheer determination alone if necessary. I feel that completing and mastering twin swallow is exactly the challenge that Uzumaki will rise to. Besides, it just seems that the style was made for him. I cannot explain it Hokage-sama."

The Hokage understood. Sometimes experienced ninjas instincts saw something their conscious minds couldn't. "Thank you. You are dismissed."

As Chameleon disappeared Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and thought that Naruto was full of surprises. Maybe Naruto would take his hat sooner rather than later.

_Next Morning_

Naruto was waiting under the same tree as before with his team waiting for their sensei. He was surprised that even he could completely recover from that royal ass beating the other day. It had to be from his Uzumaki vitality and by being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. If he could, he would have thanked the Kyuubi for his help.

"**Hmph." **

Naruto looked around for who made that sound. Huh, he must have imagined it.

Naruto looked right just as his sensei appeared with two scrolls in his hands. "Morning team, hope you had fun yesterday because today we are starting our missions."

Naruto and Ino perked up while imagining all the cool missions they were going to do while Shikamaru just mumbled troublesome under his breath.

"But before that I have to give you the results of the test you took yesterday. Shikamaru, you took an IQ test and scored… well, off the charts. So we have logged your IQ as over two hundred since that's how high the scale goes."

Both Naruto and Ino looked at Shikamaru in shock. They always knew that he was a genius, but this was ridiculous. He was so smart he _broke_ the test.

"Ino, the information you provided yesterday was very helpful. Just remember what you were told." Said Asuma with a smile.

Ino nodded her head while she preened under the praise. She had no idea what she said that was helpful but that didn't matter.

"And last but not least is Naruto. Naruto yesterday you took a sensor and Taijutsu aptitude test. The results were that you are a natural sensor and that the academy style does not suit you."

Naruto was happy to hear he had a rare skill but deflated when he heard that Chameleon thought he wasn't good at Taijutsu.

Sarutobi laughed "Naruto, being bad at the academy style isn't a bad thing. Sometimes a person is more naturally geared towards another style. It is actually good we found out so early in your career so that you can learn a style more in line with your mentality and temperament."

Naruto visibly perked up at this.

Asuma continued "These two scrolls are for you. These are yours and are _not _to be copied or shared. The first is the basic exercises for a sensor until we determine your type."

Naruto interrupted at that "What do you mean by type?"

Everyone was surprised when Shikamaru answered "He means whether you are a distance tracker type or precision combat type."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

Shikamaru sighed and explained. "Natural sensors are very good at sensing chakra. While anyone can learn to sense chakra, natural sensors are in a different league. A trained natural sensor will have much better precision and range than anyone else without the natural skill."

Shikamaru paused to see if he had confused Naruto. When Naruto nodded his head Shikamaru continued. "Now a sensors skill is defined by two factors, how far they can sense and how much details they can pick up also known as precision. Natural sensors are usually fall into one extreme or the other. So you will either be able to tell things really far away or will have a great advantage up close because it will be almost impossible to hide from you up close and chakra gives lots of things away."

"Like what?" Naruto was excited this sounded like an awesome skill.

Asuma decided to take over from here. "That depends. But you won't have to worry about that for a while. This is a basic scroll for all sensors; it will be a while before we are sure of your type. But that's not the exciting part." Asuma had a smirk on his face.

"What is it?" today was AWSOME! What was next?

"The Hokage has approved for you to learn an unmastered style called twin swallow. It is a counter and speed style that focusses on precision strikes rather than powerful blows to beat the enemy. The bad news that this style is formless and apparently has very different precepts than the academy style so it will be extremely difficult to learn."

Naruto was confused again. "What's a precept and why is it a blob?"

"Naruto a formless style is one that does not have set base stances and kata. It can change to fit any situation. They are a whole magnitude harder to master than normal styles. As for precepts..."

Asuma looked to Shikamaru for help since he could not think of a simple way to explain precepts. Shikamaru sighed with a troublesome and turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, a precept is the way you think while doing a style. If I throw a punch some people will retreat, charge, block, deflect or even take it head on. It is your trained approach to a situation. If your style is truly a formless counter style it will include things like breaking your habits."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto who was giving him his full attention. Since he had already started he might as well finish. "In fact your skills will probably degrade at first as you work to change your instinctual responses and habits before rising again."

Ino decided to add her two cents. "Don't worry, we will be happy to kick your ass until you get your skills back." It sounded mean but Ino was smiling warmly at her new team.

Asuma smiled as well. This team would be something great one day.

"Anyway the twin swallow scroll is yours to keep but not to share. You may also keep the sensor scroll until you exchange it for a specific type scroll." Asuma handed Naruto the scrolls which he immediately put in two of the empty pockets of his coat.

Asuma and Shikamaru both noticed that the inside of his coat had a bunch of scrolls but said nothing.

Asuma put Naruto's strange gear out of his mind for now and got back to the thing he had been looking forward to most, their first mission. Specifically their faces when they learned of the infamous D ranked missions. Ah, the joys of being a sensei.

* * *

><p><strong>And that seems like a good place to stop for now. The next chapter will be a brief training cameo followed by the beginning of their first "C" ranked mission (snort).<strong>

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